{"id":72016,"date":"2026-08-25T23:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T23:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/?p=72016"},"modified":"2026-08-29T01:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T01:48:11","slug":"episode-54-of-the-ongoing-eruption-of-kilauea-on-the-big-island-of-hawaii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/archives\/72016","title":{"rendered":"Episode 54 of the ongoing eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai`i"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video autoplay controls loop muted src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/08\/260825_g18_shortwaveInfrared_Kilauea.mov\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>5-minute GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared images, from 1506 UTC on 25 August to 0631 UTC on 26 August<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Episode 54 of the ongoing eruption of Kilauea (Episode 1 began on <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/archives\/62231\">23 December 2024<\/a><\/strong>) commenced at 2030 UTC on 25 August 2026. 5-minute PACUS Sector GOES-18 <em>(GOES-West)<\/em> Shortwave Infrared images <strong><em>(above)<\/em><\/strong> showed the distinct hot thermal signature of lava fountaining from the Halema`uma`u crater, which persisted for about 9 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As early as 2006 UTC on 25 August, the thermal signature exhibited a 3.9 \u00b5m brightness temperature of 137.88\u00baC <strong><em>(below)<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 which is the saturation temperature of GOES-18 ABI Band 7 detectors. This saturation temperature was intermittently seen until the eruption episode ended at 0533 UTC on 26 August.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/08\/260825_g18_shortwaveInfrared_Kilauea_saturation.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/08\/260825_g18_shortwaveInfrared_Kilauea_saturation.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared image at 2006 UTC on 25 August, with a cursor sample of the 3.9 \u00b5m brightness temperature [click to enlarge]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">GOES-18 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rammb2.cira.colostate.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/GOES_Ash_RGB-1.pdf\">Ash RGB<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rammb.cira.colostate.edu\/training\/visit\/quick_guides\/Quick_Guide_SO2_RGB.pdf\">SO<sub>2<\/sub> RGB<\/a><\/strong> images <strong><em>(below)<\/em><\/strong> displayed a prominent plume of SO<sub>2<\/sub> from the Kilauea eruption, which drifted southward. SO<sub>2<\/sub> plumes appear similar in these two RGBs, since the 8.5 \u00b5m spectral band (which is sensitive to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/11\/Band_10_spectral_response_SO2.jpg\">SO<sub>2<\/sub> absorption<\/a><\/strong>) is used in the Green component of each RGB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video autoplay controls loop muted src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/08\/260825_g18_ashRGB_so2RGB_Kilauea.mov\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>5-minute GOES-18 Ash RGB and SO<sub>2<\/sub> RGB images, from 2001 UTC on 25 August to 0631 UTC on 26 August<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Weather Service issued a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/inws.ncep.noaa.gov\/a\/a.php?i=133530374\">Special Weather Statement<\/a><\/strong> advising of potential ashfall downwind of Kilauea. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory estimated that the volcanic plume reached an altitude of 17000 feet &#8212; which, according to rawinsonde data from Hilo <strong><em>(below)<\/em><\/strong> was near the maximum altitude of northerly winds that were advecting the SO<sub>2<\/sub> plume southward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/08\/260826_0000utc_phto_raob.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2026\/08\/260826_0000utc_phto_raob.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Plot of rawinsonde data from Hilo, Hawai`i at 0000 UTC on 26 August [click to enlarge]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Episode 54 of the ongoing eruption of Kilauea (Episode 1 began on 23 December 2024) commenced at 2030 UTC on 25 August 2026. 5-minute PACUS Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Shortwave Infrared images (above) showed the distinct hot thermal signature of lava fountaining from the Halema`uma`u crater, which persisted for about 9 hours. As early as 2006 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":72017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,53,45,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-goes-18","category-real-earth","category-redgreenblue-rgb-images","category-volcanic-activity"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72016"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72043,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72016\/revisions\/72043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}